Do You Doubt That the Bible Is Really True?
Responding to Doubt
Do you ever doubt whether the Bible is really true? If the Bible is true, it’s amazing because our sins are forgiven, we have the hope of eternal life, we’ve got guidance for everyday life. But what if the Bible isn’t true? What if you can’t trust biblical history? What if the Bible contradicts the true findings of science? What if the Bible really can’t be trusted on matters of sexuality, race, justice, and all the really important issues we’re struggling with in the world today?
Those are normal questions and doubts, and they’re not new. In fact, if you open your Bible to the very beginning, already in chapter 3, the serpent comes into the garden and says to Eve, “Did God actually say . . . ?” And then he raises doubts in Eve’s mind about the trustworthiness of the Bible and whether or not God himself is trustworthy.
How should we respond? What should we do when we’ve got questions about the word of God and about God himself?
I think there are a few things we can do. One of them is simply to study the Bible more, not less. Because as time has gone on, people who have had questions about the history of the Bible, how to think about the Bible in relationship to science, or what the Bible actually was saying about the way we should live our lives, the deeper people have gone into those questions, the more the answers have become apparent.
I Have My Doubts
Philip Graham Ryken
This book examines 10 Bible stories that address faith and doubt, reassuring readers that doubt is normal for Christians and that God can use times of uncertainty to renew their faith.
Some of us have found that to be true in our own experience. One of the reasons I don’t give up on the Bible when there’s something I don’t understand is that there are things that I didn’t understand that now I understand a little better. And over time I’ve become more convinced of the trustworthiness of God’s word.
Another thing we can do is to simply pray for God’s help. If the Bible really is a book that God has given to us, it stands to reason that he wants us to understand it. He can send us the help of his Spirit so that the meaning of the Bible becomes clear and we have growing confidence in what the Bible says.
Another thing we can do is do what the Bible says. Sometimes we have a way of convincing ourselves that we have a lot of intellectual doubts about God, but actually, we really don’t want to do what God says, so we kind of convince ourselves we have all these questions. But really, the meaning of the Bible is clear enough, and deep down we know that this is a credible book that has the ring of truth to it.
What we should do as we’re studying the Bible and asking for God’s help is also just put into practice what the Bible says. We may become more convinced of its trustworthiness the more we try to walk with God and follow the teaching of Scripture.
And then I would say don’t give up too soon. Yes, the doubts come, and some of the doubts you had before may come up again, but continue to lean into the struggle to believe. And continue to trust that God will guide you as you continue to study his word. Don’t give up too soon, but wait for the confidence that God may wish to give you.
If the Bible really is a book that God has given to us, it stands to reason that he wants us to understand it.
Faith to Believe
I love the story of Billy Graham concerning this. As famous as he was for believing in God’s word—Billy Graham always said, “the Bible says”—but he had his own doubts about the trustworthiness of God’s word. And they are some of the same doubts that people have today about faith and science and history.
He was out in the woods in California as he was thinking about this, and he set his Bible on a stump, stepped back, and had a conversation with God about it. He said, “I don’t have all the answers, and I may not get all the answers, and that’s okay. I am going to trust by faith that this is your true word.”
And that gave him such confidence in God and in God’s word that he was able to preach the gospel all over the world. He was also able to know in his own soul that his sins were forgiven and that he had the hope of eternal life.
And that’s my hope and prayer for you as well, that as you continue to wrestle with questions about the Bible, you’ll come to a place of saying to God in your relationship with him, “I’m going to take you at your word. I’m going to believe in who you are and what you say by faith.”
And when you come to that moment of conviction, you will be greatly blessed with amazing peace and an ability to do God’s work in the world.
Philip Ryken is the author of I Have My Doubts: How God Can Use Your Uncertainty to Reawaken Your Faith.
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